Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

In answering an earlier question, I mentioned that we have a problem with energy security. Some of our gas-fired power stations have been down. It is likely that Moneypoint will continue to operate up to 2025 to provide back-up power when the wind is not blowing or other gas-fired generators are not available for any one of a variety of reasons. I do not envisage it operating beyond 2025. I will be pushing my Department, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which is the energy regulator, and others to try to ensure we have the flexible open-cycle back-up capacity needed to give us balancing power, rather than having to rely on Moneypoint. Neither Moneypoint nor the station at Tarbert are suited to that role. The plants were designed to run constantly rather than to be switched on and switched off. They take a long time to heat up and do not work well in that sort of flexible back-up role.

If I may finish with one further point, the Deputy mentioned energy importation. As I mentioned earlier on, I was at the North Seas Energy Cooperation conference yesterday. All the talk at that conference was about Ireland having opportunities for export because, particularly on the west coast, we have that power-----

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